Signed contracts between Virginia Dept. of Elections, and regional states, to work together on voter list maintenance.
Attached contracts between Virginia and regional states, plus the District of Columbia, that is signed to ensure accurate voter lists.
The contacts were produced via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request:
MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
MOU with Ohio is here
MOU with West Virginia is here
MOU with South Carolina is here.
MOU with Georgia is here.
MOU with District of Columbia is here.
Creation of System for Sharing of Lists of Registered Voters and Those Who Voted
For Maintenance of Voter Registration Systems.
Attached contracts between Virginia and regional states, plus the District of Columbia, that is signed to ensure accurate voter lists.
The contacts were produced via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request:
BACKGROUND:
Virginia’s Commissioner of Elections, Susan Beals, recently announced in September that the Dept. of Elections (ELECT) has joined with a group of states and the District of Columbia to work together on the proper maintenance of voter registrations.
The move comes after Virginia became the eighth state to leave the group known as Electronic Registration Information Center, (ERIC) over concerns over its mission and revelations about its data-sharing practices outside of its contract put it under a spotlight with election integrity groups.
Full press release is here and copied in below.
For Immediate Release:
Contact For More Information:
Andrea M. Gaines
(804) 864-8928
Andrea.Gaines@elections.virginia.gov
VIRGINIA SIGNS AGREEMENTS WITH SIX STATES AS PART OF IMPROVEMENTS TO ACCURACY OF VOTER LIST
RICHMOND, VA – Commissioner Susan Beals announced actions the Virginia Department of Elections (ELECT) has taken to ensure the most accurate voter records heading into the start of early voting for the 2023 November General Election.
“Secure elections start with accurate voter lists,” said Commissioner Susan Beals. “Virginia now updates our voter list using data coming directly from one-to-one data sharing agreements with neighboring states and partnerships with state and federal agencies.”
Signed Agreements with States: Virginia has signed six data sharing agreements in order to securely compare voter lists and identify potential voter fraud. Commissioner Beals has partnered with the chief election officials of Washington, D.C., Georgia, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia to identify duplicate registrations and potential double voters.
Identified Inactive Voters: For the first time ever, ELECT conducted two National Change of Address mailings to voters who may have moved. The mailings took place in February and July 2023 and identified a record number of 260,653 inactive voters. ELECT promptly set these voters to inactive status, beginning the process of removing them from the voter list, as required under the National Voter Registration Act. Additionally, ELECT is leveraging its partnership with the Department of Motor Vehicles to collect license surrender data from more states than ever before. ELECT will use that data in accordance with state law to contact voters who may have moved out of state and provide them the steps to cancel their voter registration.
Streamlined Reporting of Deaths: ELECT cancelled an historic record of 77,348 deceased voters over the past 12 months by simplifying the reporting and removal process. ELECT partnered with the Virginia Department of Health to conduct an historical audit of death records back to 1960, which identified 18,990 records not previously shared with the department. ELECT introduced new tools for registrars to confirm the death of a voter, including a new database for identifying out of state deaths and a new a form to simplify reporting the death of a loved one. These changes resulted in recognition by Congress for Virginia as a model for other states from the Chair of the United States House Administration Committee’s Subcommittee on Elections.
For a detailed analysis of ELECT’s list maintenance activities, please see the 2023 Annual List Maintenance Report, located on the Department’s website: Voter Registration List Maintenance.
